• I.S. Saluja

UNITED NATIONS, NEW YORK (TIP): At a poignant session of the United Nations Security Council on Monday, UN Under-Secretary-General and UN Women Executive Director Sima Bahous delivered a grave briefing on the worsening plight of women and girls in Afghanistan. Calling on the global community to resist complacency, Bahous declared: “Afghan women have not given up — nor can we. We must not look away.”

Bahous commended the Security Council’s renewal of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA)’s mandate earlier this year, which reaffirmed the fundamental rights of Afghan women. However, she emphasized that the situation for women and girls has grown increasingly desperate in the face of systematic repression by the Taliban regime.

Restrictions Harden into Law

“Since my last briefing nine months ago, not a single restriction has been reversed,” Bahous reported. “Repression has become more systematic and has calcified into structure and law.”

Despite repeated UN resolutions demanding access for female aid workers, legal and bureaucratic barriers imposed by the Taliban have made it nearly impossible to reach women in need. Compounding the crisis are dramatic funding cuts to aid operations, forcing the UN and its partners to operate in increasingly constrained and dangerous conditions.

UN Women and its partners continue to work within these confines, employing strategies such as providing separate facilities and negotiating for the presence of male chaperones to ensure Afghan women can access essential services.

A Crisis Beyond Numbers

Illustrating the human impact behind the statistics, Bahous shared the story of Sama, a woman entrepreneur in Bamyan who runs a small shop in a women’s market. With solar panels provided by UN Women, Sama and her peers have doubled their incomes over the past year — a rare but powerful example of resilience.

But such success stories are exceptions in an otherwise bleak landscape. One-third of Afghanistan’s population — mostly women and children — face malnutrition, while maternal mortality and mental health issues are sharply rising. Girls are increasingly losing access to education and food, and some now pray to fail exams just to remain in school longer. Rates of child marriage and teenage pregnancy are also increasing.

“This is not just a crisis for girls,” Bahous said. “This is generational damage.”

A Grim Gender Index

UN Women’s 2024 Afghanistan Gender Index, released last week, presents a stark statistical portrait of life under Taliban rule:

Nearly 78% of Afghan women aged 18–29 are neither in work, nor education, nor training — one of the highest rates in the world.

Men are nearly three times more likely than women to have access to bank accounts or mobile money services.

Rates of intimate partner violence are on the rise.

The ongoing education ban is projected to cost Afghanistan $1.5 billion in economic losses by 2030.

“Four years after the Taliban’s return, the rollback of women’s rights has been swift and nearly total,” Bahous said. “The very presence of women in public life has been erased.”

Urgent Recommendations to the Security Council

In response to this mounting crisis, Bahous laid out four urgent recommendations:

Avoid Normalizing Discrimination: International engagement with the Taliban — including via the Doha process — must avoid legitimizing discriminatory policies. Afghan women must be full and equal participants in all discussions about the country’s future.

Strengthen Accountability: The Security Council should support efforts to investigate and document human rights violations through an independent mechanism. She urged the Council’s 1988 Committee to consider including violations of women’s rights in its listing criteria. 

Increase Funding for Women and Girls: Donors must ensure that at least 30% of all aid to Afghanistan directly supports women and girls, particularly through women-led grassroots organizations.

Invest in Digital Literacy: With many Afghan women now relying on digital means for education, training, and economic activity, Bahous called for greater investment in online access and skills development.

A Call to Conscience

Bahous concluded with an impassioned plea to the international community: “The systematic oppression of 20 million people simply because they are women is utterly unacceptable. We must not grow used to their situation. There is no justification for delay.”

The Security Council chamber fell silent as Bahous’s words echoed a stark truth — the women of Afghanistan continue to resist, even as the world turns its gaze elsewhere.

Their message, as delivered by Bahous, remains clear: They have not given up. Nor can we.